Last night after work I went in search of Andrew Taylor's first book in the Roth Trilogy, The Four Last Things, but the bookstore only had the second and third books. I want to start with the first, of course, so I browsed the rest of the mystery section instead. Now I should have just left, but I couldn't come home empty handed when it's been months since I stepped foot inside a bookstore. To be honest, though, nothing new really struck me as all that exciting. Either I would see a book that looked interesting but then remember I already have a different book by said author at home unread (and should read it first), or they just didn't have the books I was looking for.
I did find one new book, but on consideration I'm wondering if it will compare unfavorably to Kazuo Ishiguro's Never Let Me Go, which I was very impressed by. I can't remember on whose blog that I first came across The Unit by Swedish author, Ninni Holmqvist. It's a dystopian novel along the same lines as the Ishiguro, though it takes things a step further. Strangely I have a soft spot for dystopian stories, though it's been ages since I read any. I'll give this a try and hopefully can keep an open mind and not compare it to other books.
Since I didn't find what I wanted I decided to add a few more Agatha Christie books to my small collection as I feel an Agatha reading binge coming on. I settled on Cat Among the Pigeons, which is set at an exclusive institution for privileged young ladies, and Partners in Crime, a Tommy and Tuppence mystery. I think the latter is actually short stories. And I'm greatly enjoying Death on the Nile. Why is it so entertaining to read about snobby people that you just know are going to end up dead before the story gets too far along? Does that sound awful?
There was some discussion in my online reading group about Frank Tallis's mysteries set in turn-of-the-century Vienna--all of it positive. I have the first two and found the third, Fatal Lies, so indulged myself. This means I really do need to read the first one soon. I think I'm just about in the mood now for something set in Vienna anyway. And two new magazines came home with me, as well (for some reasons I always see magazines as serious splurges).
The bottom book is my lone library check out. Since I've returned one, I get to bring one home and it was F.G. Cottam's The House of Lost Souls. It looks like its a thriller/ghost story set in contemporary times as well as the 1920s. And I still only have four books checked out! And lots of my own in the progress of being read!